Daily Archives: June 1, 2017

Till I was in college, I was not allowed to read the Old Testament, except the Psalms. So, when I first read the Book of Proverbs in College, I was surprised by the amount of practical knowledge and wisdom present in each verse. But the verse that made a great impact on me was this:

Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue. – Proverbs 17:28

As a result of applying this verse in my life, I started to talk less. However, even today, when I talk about this verse, I always hear a snigger from my wife, followed by the same comment: “If he talks so much after applying this verse, how much did he talk before? I can’t even imagine.” Yea, it is true that I still am verbose, and hopefully the Lord will help me more on that front.

But enough about me. What I wanted to tell is how when you read or hear people talking all kind of nonsense, you realize how they keep on proving that the Word of God is true, though they do not believe in it.

For example, there is a high court judge who retired on May 31st, 2017 (okay, that was just yesterday) in the state of Rajasthan in India. I would have never heard about him, if only he had remained silent on the final day of his office. But how did I know of him? On the last case of his life, he wanted the Central Government (in USA, it would be the Federal Government) to declare cow as the national animal, and life imprisonment for anyone who slaughters a cow. Then he goes ahead and has to say this about peacock, the Indian national bird:

“The main characteristic of the peacock is his celibacy. The peahen gets pregnant by swallowing the tears of the peacock. The culling of such a bird is a matter of national concern.”

First, I thought someone was trolling him with such a message. But then came the news that this is also a part of a judgment he gave last year. And this is a high court judge. Imagine the standard of judiciary in India.

Then another Hindu seer comes and denounces both statements of the judge. He acknowledged that Hindu mythologies do record that a peahen becomes pregnant by swallowing the tears of a peacock, but it is just poetry; in reality, they do actually mate. And I thought, wow, that is nice. Finally some sense. Then I read further.

The Hindu seer goes ahead and said that he also does not agree with the judge’s recommendation that the cow be made the national animal of India and those who slaughter the cow be given life sentence. He said: “Cow cannot be made national animal, because cow is not an animal. Cows must be given the status of national mother and cow killers should be given capital punishment.”

As I read these two reports, I could not help but remember Proverbs 17:28 and thank God for giving us a part of His infinite wisdom.